NTSB CAROL · Event
Event LAX94LA287
Aircraft involved
Probable cause & findings
the pilots attempted takeoff with a strong and gusty tailwind.
Factual narrative
On July 16, 1994, at 1307 hours Pacific daylight time, a Piper PA-28-140, N6785W, collided with a fence after an in-flight loss of control during takeoff from runway 23 at the Elko Municipal Airport, Elko, Nevada. The airplane was being operated as a personal flight by the second pilot/co-owner when the accident occurred. The airplane sustained substantial damage, and the two pilots were not injured. The flight was destined for Grants Pass, Oregon. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed. Both pilots reported encountering a downdraft at 200 feet above the ground after takeoff. The airplane descended and collided with the fence off the end of the runway. The winds at the airport were reported to be from 350 degrees at 18 knots gusting to 54 knots at the time of the accident. Runway 23 is 7,211 feet in length and 150 feet wide. Neither the pilot nor student pilot submitted an aircraft accident report. The pilot surrendered his pilot certificate to the Federal Aviation Administration in Reno, Nevada, on January 23, 1995. THE PILOTS ATTEMPTED A TAKEOFF FROM RUNWAY 23, WHICH IS 7,211 FEET IN LENGTH. BOTH PILOTS STATED THAT THEY ENCOUNTERED A DOWNDRAFT ABOUT 200 FEET ABOVE GROUND. THE AIRCRAFT DESCENDED AND COLLIDED WITH A FENCE. THE WINDS WERE FROM 340 DEGREES AT 18 KNOTS WITH GUSTS TO 54 KNOTS. THERE WERE NO REPORTED MECHANICAL PROBLEMS. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12
Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file
NTSB_1994_LAX94LA287.txt.
Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb.
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Related research
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Academic papers and agency reports matching this event's aircraft type or causal vocabulary (loss of control). Sourced from NASA NTRS, NTSB Safety Studies, FAA CAMI, AOPA Air Safety Institute, Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons, arXiv, and the Semantic Scholar academic graph.
- Embry-Riddle Scholarly Commons 2025 · Journal article (JAAER)
A Scoping Review of Aviation Loss of Control Inflight Research
Loss of control – inflight (LOC-I) contributes to aircraft accidents at unacceptably high rates. Significant industry efforts and research have aimed to improve LOC-I prevention, detection, and recove…
- SKYbrary (Eurocontrol) 2024 · SKYbrary article
Loss of Control In-Flight (LOC-I) — SKYbrary Knowledge Base
SKYbrary comprehensive knowledge-base entry on Loss of Control In-Flight — definitions, contributing factors, accident case studies (Air France 447, Colgan 3407), and prevention strategies.
- NTSB Aircraft Accident Reports 2022 · Accident report
Loss of Control on Takeoff in Icing Conditions — Citation 560XL
Cessna Citation 560XL fatal takeoff icing accident, March 2018. Investigation of a Citation 560XL loss-of-control takeoff accident in icing conditions.
- Semantic Scholar 2021 · Article (Aviation)
ANALYSIS OF GENERAL AVIATION FIXED-WING AIRCRAFT ACCIDENTS INVOLVING INFLIGHT LOSS OF CONTROL USING A STATE-BASED APPROACH
Inflight loss of control (LOC-I) is a significant cause of General Aviation (GA) fixed-wing aircraft accidents. The United States National Transportation Safety Board’s database provides a rich source…
- NASA NTRS 2021 · Presentation
Use of Design of Experiments in Determining Neural Network Architectures for Loss of Control Detection
Abstract—We describe empirical methods for selecting a neural network architecture to implement belief state inference on generic commercial transport aircraft.
- NASA NTRS 2021 · Conference Paper
Use of Design of Experiments in Determining Neural Network Architectures for Loss of Control Detection
We describe empirical methods for selecting a neural network architecture to implement belief state inference on generic commercial transport aircraft.
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